I remember auditioning with a number of different actors, younger actors, for the role. One of them was Heath Ledger, another was Jake Gyllenhaal. That would have been a different way to go, but I remember Baz saying, “There’s also someone else I’m considering and that’s Ewan McGregor. He can’t come over here to audition but I’ve heard him sing and he’s amazing.”

I had met Ewan once (He was wearing a kilt.) I think it was at a theater event when I was doing The Blue Room in London and I just clicked with him. I love his humor. I just went, wow, to be able to act opposite Ewan McGregor in THIS film would be such a dream. He has that poetic quality, yet he has that mischievous quality. He’s just very, very unique. He was already a huge star in England so I was like, I don’t know, will he do it? And Baz was like, “Yes. Yes. He’ll do it.”

I remember we met for the first time in Australia when we went there to do this 8-week rehearsal workshop process. I took one look at him and I heard him sing Elton John’s Your Song and I just thought, oh my gosh, you’re going to be amazing in this film. Every time he sang Your Song to me, and I mean, because of all the rehearsals and all the shooting, and it was a long shoot, I must have heard him sing that to me well over 500 times and I still get tingles. That’s how powerful the song is. But it’s also how powerful Ewan is singing it. I think he’s so beautiful in the film and I would love to work with him again.

MTV recently held a special news event celebrating the 10th anniversary of “Moulin Rouge!” – including exclusive interviews with Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor and John Leguizamo, plus a deleted scene, and lots more. Watch the above clip as Josh Horowitz introduces the look back and hear what some of today’s stars say about their experiences with the film.

For more behind the scenes clips and cast interviews from Moulin Rouge, head to MTV’s website.

The original 1952 film “Moulin Rouge” was directed by John Huston and starred José Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec. In this clip, Henry causes a stir with one of his posters for the dancehall.

The Moulin Rouge is an actual nightclub in Paris that dates back to the late 19th century. Opened by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, the Moulin Rouge got its name from the red mill in front of the building. The club featured women performing scandalous dances like the Can-Can and was made famous by the paintings of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Another attraction at the Moulin Rouge was the giant wooden elephant Zidler and Oller put in the garden behind the club. The elephant had a stage in its stomach where dancers would dance privately for wealthy gentleman. To this day, the Moulin Rouge is a popular tourist attraction, where visitors can step back in time and enjoy dinner and a spectacular show.

I knew about Baz because he was already famous in Australia as being so innovative. He and Catherine Martin were already a team. They came to America with me to shoot a Vogue cover. I think I must have been 22 or 23. We did a whole bunch of different characters for it. I just had the best time doing it. We did a two-day shoot, and that’s basically when we built our first creative relationship.

Then I auditioned for him on Moulin Rouge. I sang The Spy Who Loved Me by Carole Bager Sayer, who’s actually a really good friend of mine now. Little does she know that I auditioned with her song. I just remember being terrified because I have no confidence in my voice, but I went in there. I think I did it about six or seven times and Baz videoed it.

I just love him. I love the way he works. I love his energy and his attention to detail. And he has such a love of actors because he started out as an actor. I think he’s just a force. A force of creative energy. And then I got offered the role. He sent me roses and asked me if I would be in the film. I was doing The Blue Room at the time. I remember feeling tingly and thinking that this is something that could change my life. Not just my professional life, but actually my life. I think that’s what Moulin Rouge did, so I feel very indebted to Baz (Bazzy as I call him) and to CM and the whole creative team who did Moulin Rouge because they basically gave me the confidence to believe that I could do a musical – that I could sing and dance and act in the one film. I’d wanted to make a romantic film. I wanted to make a film that was a great love story and I feel Moulin Rouge is a great love story.

The classical music of Vivaldi, Handel, Pergolesi and Albinoni is heard throughout “Dogville”. But it is the song featured during the end credits that most people remember.

“Young Americans” by David Bowie plays over a series of disturbing photographs of Americans living in abject poverty. There is debate as to why he chose the song and the photos but, like everything Lars von Trier does – it challenges you to think.